Hi,

I'm wrapping up Child 7, here are the roughed in end notes (comments welcome):

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Some conclusions-- The fragment of the Child of Ell from Percy's 1753 MS can hardly be the model or ur-ballad partially because the last page of the MS was missing. The theme of the maid who elopes with her lover and is pursued by her father and brothers (or father's men) is found in a number of ballads and broadsides in English speaking countries and in Scandinavia where it was also popular. The details of the UK ballads vary enough so that the Scottish "Earl Brand" and "Douglas Tragedy" should be considered different yet similar ballads. Child, to his credit, did separate "Erlington" from these and presumably did not include "Bold Soldier/Lady and the Dragoon" ballads in his 305 because they were derived from broadsides. The "Bold Soldier/Lady and the Dragoon" ballads are included as Appendix 7A as they appear in Bronson's "Traditional Tunes."

"The Douglas Tragedy" also titled "Lord William and Lady Margaret" was well known in Aberdeenshire in the mid-1800s until the mid-1900s as evidenced by number of ballads (around 40) collected by Greig and Duncan about 1908 and the versions collected by James Madison Carpenter in the early 1930s. "The Douglas Tragedy/Lord William and Lady Margaret" ballad was brought to America probably by the late 1700s where it was found in Appalachian (Virginia colony) as well as the Northeast and Canada.

The nature of the "Douglas Tragedy" ur-ballad is hard to fathom. It was brought to America in mostly corrupt form which shows it was in traditional circulation rather than in print. The prints in Scotland that appeared in chapbooks from 1792 to 1800 represent later reductions where the name "Lord Douglas" has been added. The Scottish Lord Douglas prints also appear to be missing the opening stanza(s) and other corruptions were pointed out by Scott[]. In America the name "Lord Douglas" is not found[], rather it's "Lord William" or "Sweet William." This puzzling bit of information means that the American versions must have been derived from an earlier unknown UK version. The American versions have an introductory stanza which may be a corruption or an earlier missing UK stanza:

1 As he rode up to the old man's gate
So boldly he did say,
"Your oldest daughter you may keep at home,
But the young one I'll take away."

This stanza shows the elopement (abduction) of the youngest daughter not clearly presented in the Scottish "Lord Douglas" versions which say, "take better care of your youngest sister" but fail to mention the the elopement (abduction). Neither the UK or American versions of Lord Douglas properly show the elopement (abduction) and Earl Brand is no better-- it just has the fifteen year old King's daughter who "sae boldly she came to his bedside." The few US versions[] with a common four stanza introduction are from Mississippi and Virginia and feature "Sweet William" and "Fair Elinor/Ellender" or "Fair Ellen" (see, for example, the opening stanzas below by Mrs. Theodosia B. Long and Mary Ila Long, Mississippi, between 1923 and 1930; Hudson). Stanzas 3 and 4 seem to have borrowed this introduction from another ballad (see: Lord Thomas) and the stanzas are not supported by corroborating versions in the UK:

1. Before the rising of the sun,
One morning early in sweet May,
When the tops of the trees were very green,
And the roots had withered away.

2. Sweet William mounted the milk-white steed,
He proudly led the dappled gray,
He swung his bugles around his neck,
And he went riding away.

3. He rode till he came to fair Eleanor's gate,
And tingled loudly at the ring,
"Are you sleepin! or not fair Eleanor," he said,
"Are you sleeping or not within?"

4. Fair Eleanor gladly rosed up,
And quickly slipped on her shoes,
And straightway out to her dear Sweet William,
Fair Eleanor she then goes.

5. He helped her up on the milk-white steed,
And proudly rode the dappled gray ,
He swung his bugles around his neck,
And they went riding away.

The 5th stanza ties back into Child B texts. These are either missing UK introductory stanzas or more likely it is an attempt to include missing opening stanzas not found in the UK versions of Child B. The same or similar stanzas are found five versions from Mississippi and Virginia.

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Richie